


The Book and the Key

by Bazylia_de_Grean



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen, Leaden Key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-02-01 22:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12714291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bazylia_de_Grean/pseuds/Bazylia_de_Grean
Summary: If there are things the gods want hidden, so be it. Let Wael worry about buried secrets and revealed mysteries.Maybe it is better that there is so much he does not know. He became the Grandmaster to change the Key, after all.





	The Book and the Key

**Author's Note:**

> (prompt: Aloth, book, warmth)

Iselmyr is asleep, or at least quiet and withdrawn. She has always claimed books bored her, though expressed it in much less elegant words. Just as well. She has proven useful time and again, and a good... friend, but right now, Aloth would rather be alone with himself.

Lost in thoughts, he moves his fingers absent-mindedly across the dusty page of an old book. Just one tome of many. This is the infamous Book some Leaden Key prayers, blessings and oaths refer to. Not the volume in his lap, not the letters in it – the words that have never been written down, the deeds that have never been mentioned. Not the history as the Leaden Key tells it, but everything that sets those events in motion. The heaviest, most difficult books of all.

Obviously, he does not know even the half of it. But being aware how the Key had operated while led by Thaos, he can read many things between the lines. Still, not everything.

Sometimes he wishes Iselmyr could read, because then she would be able to help him with some older dialects, at least. But maybe it is better this way. After all, when he asked the Watcher for help with Engwithan once, she just went pale and refused to translate. And he has never seen that scroll again, after he left Caed Nua.

Not that he minds very much. If there are things the gods want hidden, so be it. Let Wael worry about buried secrets and revealed mysteries.

Maybe it is better that there is so much he does not know. He became the Grandmaster to change the Key, after all. They are no longer just servants of Woedica, but devoted to all the gods, making certain their will is done across Eora. Of course, that also means honouring the Queen That Was, but not the way Thaos used to – not as if she still was the first among the gods, but simply one of them, a symbol of justice. Mercy is important, but a world without a colder kind of justice would not be safe to live in. Some kith do not understand anything but fear and strength. Aloth knows that first-hand, he learned that from his father years ago.

Perhaps that is also why he can understand Thaos, on some level. Understand that inability to refuse someone who is not worth that much sacrifice, understand the wish to gain their approval nonetheless. But unlike Thaos, Aloth has left that behind him, thanks to the Watcher, thanks to Iselmyr... and thanks to Thaos, who has shown him that even somebody one admires can err terribly. Aloth has always been a scholar at heart, learning from books and his teachers’ examples, and thus has no difficulty in learning from someone else’s mistakes, even the grave ones. He smiles briefly, amused by the word play. The reflection in the silver goblet tells him that smile is more edges than warmth, but that was to be expected.

He has no intention of ever becoming ruthless, but he has to be the judge, the shadow behind those in power. Mercy is for the priests of Eothas, Abydon and Hylea, perhaps also Ondra and Berath – sometimes, on a good day, he thinks wryly – and thus there must be room for mercy in his life. Iselmyr will see to it. The Watcher will see to it. Aloth will see to everything else.

He only has to give one life, and that does not seem to be an unfair price for finding a higher purpose. And later...

Speculating on what will come later is fascinating. It is not impossible that Berath should grant him the same blessing – and curse – that was bestowed upon the Watcher. But not very probable. It is also possible that Woedica will eventually give Thaos back all the memories – either to have a faithful pawn again, or to better punish the servant who had failed in such a critical moment. Now that is something Aloth would be interested to see. He will not, in all probability, but ah, just to think how amusing that would be.

Leaden Key agents are always wary, looking for the signs – he has told them what to look for, but not why, and they followed without question, very useful indeed – but there have been no reports so far. The agents he tried to place in the Dunryd Row disappeared without a trace – so the ciphers learned something from it all, too. He will succeed, eventually. Unless the Watcher does not wish it. Maybe she was the one who found his agents. Very well. As long as Islwyn’s ciphers do not pry into the forbidden lore and animancy, Aloth will let them be. Maybe it is better like this, having another power working for the same goal – order over chaos – in their own way.

He would like to keep an eye on Thaos, to make certain his old master would not meddle, in this life, at least, but it seems some forces wish that knowledge remained hidden from him. If it is Woedica, he will eventually find a way, with the help and blessings of the other gods – it is a good thing to have an adversary who has so many enemies. If it is one of the other gods, then he will learn which one and decide how to proceed. If it is the Watcher... It was Eidis’ decision in the first place – and a wrong one – to let Thaos live free of the burden of the past. Let the consequences be hers, too, if she is the one guarding that particular secret. Aloth would happily give his life for her, was there need to – not that he can really allow himself to do that now, when he has the Leaden Key in his care – and would readily protect her from any danger, but he cannot protect her from her own mistakes.

He reaches for the goblet, but the wine has grown cold. Aloth sighs. It is high time he did something about the Leaden Key headquarters. Ancient underground complexes, really? Maybe if he looked over the maps again he would find something more agreeable, heated with thermal waters. Or maybe there is some urgent matter to be seen to somewhere warmer.

Comfort aside, it seems like a good time to start moving upwards and leaving shadows. Not the whole Leaden Key, of course, but why not send someone to Eir Glanfath and inquire about possibilities of founding an order of faithful who would tend to the Engwithan ruins? Restoration, cleaning, just making sure their ancient glory would not crumble into dust. Yes, that can be done. And what better place to start than the Paths of Od Nua? No, no, Eidis would never allow that. Perhaps Burial Isle, then. Restoring Woedica’s temple would certainly go a long way towards placating her wrath.

Being able to operate openly, at least part of the time, would certainly make things easier. Many, many things... People rarely notice scholars, after all. One could think they would have learned, after so many centuries.


End file.
